November 27, 2017 - by varone

Fuel efficient trucking — is it possible? Based on the results from the Run on Less roadshow, the answer is “Yes.” Read this article to learn how a team of truck drivers proved that fuel efficiency is achievable.

The State of Fuel Economy in Trucking

When it comes to fuel economy in the trucking industry, there is room for improvement. The Annual Fleet Fuel Study by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) reports that the national average truck fuel economy is only 5.83 MPG. Considering the rising cost of fuel in the U.S., the need to improve fuel economy becomes more urgent as time passes.

Fuel impacts the bottom line (fuel costs represent 24% of a fleet’s total operating costs).

Using less fuel benefits the environment through reduced emissions.

Geotab Research Shows Fuel Economy Performance by State

To provide more insight into the state of fuel economy in trucking, Geotab looked at the average fuel economy of a sample of over 30,000 Class 7 and Class 8 trucks equipped with a Geotab GO telematics device, for a one year time span from June 2016 to July 2017, located in the continental United States and Canada.

The findings:

Average miles per gallon of Class 7 and Class 8 trucks is 4.51 MPG to 6.47 MPG.

British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan had the lowest average MPG in the results.

Rhode Island, Massachussetts, and Delaware tied with Wisconsin for the highest average MPG.

See the heat map with average MPG results (click on button or image below).

The aim of this research is to provide a baseline tool to help trucking fleets in their efforts to improve fuel efficiency through driver coaching and newer truck specification options. The research was conducted using Google BigQuery, Google Datalab Notebooks using Python, and streaming live telematics data from Geotab’s Big Data platform.

As said by Mike Roeth, NACFE Executive Director, “Every year the North American trucking industry spends $40 billion too much on their fuel bill. We can cut this significantly with the right efficiency technologies.” Geotab offers many tools to help businesses optimize their fleets, including fuel efficiency reporting, driver coaching with Geotab GO TALK, predictive maintenance, and remote diagnostics.

Run on Less Results: Geotab Data Shows Fuel Efficiency Is Possible

Fuel efficiency in trucking is within reach, as shown by the results of the Run on Less campaign. Seven Class 8 trucks, equipped with efficiency technologies, and Geotab GO devices, drove over 50,000 miles across the country in a three week roadshow. The Run on Less team successfully met and exceeded the original goal of 9 MPG.

Thanks to fuel efficient technology and driving best practices, the Run on Less fleets saved $7,193 and 2,877 gallons of fuel, and achieved an outstanding 10.1 MPG.

If the over 1.7 million trucks in North America achieved the same MPG, the overall savings would total $24.3 billion, 9.7 billion gallons of diesel fuel, and 98 million tons of CO2 annually, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute.